G-COMM Comms-Dispatch-Radio Procedures Part 4

Clearing Responding Vehicles

• When responding apparatus are not required at an incident, the Incident Commander should notify the Communication Centre to clear incoming vehicles.
• Example of notification: "Toronto Fire, this is Pumper three twenty five Captain…..This is a confirmed false alarm at number seven, eight, three, Queen Street West, return all incoming apparatus."
• The Communication Centre will respond with "Wilco Pumper three twenty five Captain….All incoming apparatus responding to number seven, eight, three, Queen Street West, you are clear. Acknowledge."
• Responding apparatus should then switch to the operations channel and report clear using the MDT.

Partial Clearing of Responding Apparatus

• When some responding apparatus are required at the scene and one or more can be cleared, this shall be reported to the Communication Centre.
• Example of notification: "Toronto Fire, this is Chief forty-three.We have a small kitchen fire at number eight, five, three, Yonge Street, return all incoming apparatus with the exception of Pumper four eleven and Car 43."

Vehicle Status

• The Company Officer of each apparatus shall ensure the TFS Communications Centre is immediately informed of any change in vehicle status.
• Status types include:
  • Arrived at a Secondary Location (A2)
  • Patient Contact
  • And others (not specified)

Vehicle Status Types

• Arrived at a Secondary Location (A2): indicates the true response time for events, calculating the time between arrival at scene and arrival at the actual location of the incident.
• Patient Contact: indicates actual contact time for medical incidents, including delays such as Vertical Time, forcible entry, and wandering/lost patients.

Communication

• The phonetic alphabet should be used to pronounce isolated letters or groups of letters separately or when communication is difficult.
• Examples of phonetic alphabet:
  • A - ALPHA
  • N - NOVEMBER
  • B - BRAVO
  • O - OSCAR
  • And others (not specified)

Time

• The 24-hour clock shall be used for expressing time.
• Time shall be written and verbalized using four figures, with the first two denoting the hour past midnight and the last two the minutes past the hour.
• Examples of time notation:
  • 12:45 a.m. expressed as 0045 hours
  • 12:00 noon expressed as 1200 hours
  • 12:00 midnight expressed as 2400 hours

Common Terms

• PD ACCIDENT: Property damage accident
• PI ACCIDENT: Personal injury accident
• ETA: Estimated time of arrival
• VSA: Vital signs absent
• PIC: Person in Crisis